Attorney General Orders Kentucky Governor to Release Pension Analysis

Ruling states Bevin violated public access laws upon November refusal.

Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration is in hot water as a ruling from the office of Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear states the governor broke the law when he refused to release an actuarial analysis showing the cost of his proposed pension reform.

According to Kentucky.com, Bevin’s office withheld an analysis of his reform plan’s impact on state and local pension system employees in November, following the release of a financial analysis on teacher’s pensions that he also did not want released. When Bevin blocked his own release, the attorney general said he violated the Kentucky Open Records Act, a series of laws which guarantee public access to government body public records at all levels in the state.

Because the final report of Bevin’s analysis, performed by Michigan firm GRS, had been given to Kentucky, Beshear’s office is now calling for Bevin’s analysis to be released. Should he refuse, he will have to challenge the attorney general’s ruling in circuit court.

“We look forward to Governor Bevin’s prompt release of the actuarial analysis and further confirmation that his pension bill would be harmful to this state and taxpayers,” Ellen Sueholtz, coordinator of Kentucky’s Public Pension Coalition, which filed the records request, told Kentucky.com. “Unfortunately, so far this year, we’ve seen a similar lack of transparency from the governor on pension proposals.”